In Mourning
by RoseWalker
Summary: Duo has locked himself in his room and the others are trying to get him out. But why is he so miserable?


**Title: In Mourning**

**Fandom: Gundam Wing**

**Paring: None really for once!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the lovely Gundam boys if I did the series would not be suitable for children!**

**Notes: Please don't hate me… again. I keep writing these things I'm sure I have a death wish. Well if it means I get to meet the sexy god of death bring it on! I am sorry for this. My demons (I have demons instead of muses) poked me to write it.**

**Please review it. My demons feed on reviews, more reviews more stuff, easy. Those who do, get cookies, yay. If you don't I'll set 'scythe on you and he'll attack your ankles… well he is only little, wasn't allowed a big one!**

**Summary: Duo's locked himself in his room and the others try to get him out. But why is Duo so miserable?**

"Come on Duo, you can't stay in there forever." Quatre pleaded to the door.

"Yes I can, just watch me." A muffled voice replied. Quatre sighed,

"Come on, it can't be that bad, can it?"

"Leave me alone Quatre." His voice sounded so mournful it nearly made Quatre cry. He knew how upset his friend was, none of the usual joy in his voice was there and he had all called them by their proper names, not his usual nicknames.

"Alright Duo. We are here though, don't forget that." He tried sadly. He didn't get a reply. He walked back into the lounge and slumped down on the sofa. "I can't get him out." He shook his head.

"Don't worry." Trowa told the blond calmly. "He'll come out when he wants to."

"He's just being stupid and childish." Wufei added. Quatre looked a little hurt by that,

"No he's not. I don't blame him. We need to support him not laugh at him."

"I don't know what else to do with him. I've tried shouting at him, Barton's tried calmly talking to him and now you've tried to be diplomatic. There's nothing to be done, he needs to come out of it himself." The Chinese man stated.

"Maybe Heero can do something." Quatre said hopefully. The other two shrugged. They heard the front door open and close again and Heero walked in carrying groceries. Quatre looked around. "He's still in his room." The Arab told the Japanese man.

"Hn." His facial expression didn't change. He walked out and into the kitchen. Quatre followed him.

"Do you think you can get him out Heero? We've all tried and he won't budge."

"Mission accepted." He nodded. He unpacked all the groceries then left the kitchen. The other three followed him. He knocked on the door. "Duo." No reply.

"Are you going to come out?"

"No." Came the short, muffled reply.

"I will kill you Duo." He used his normal line.

"Good." Heero seemed a little taken aback by this.

"Do you mean that Duo?"

"Yes. I wish you'd killed me in that cell in the war. This would have never happened then." His voice seemed a little clearer but adamant. "I hate you Heero Yuy. It's all your fault!" This was shouted quite loudly. Heero grunted then moved away from the door. Quatre looked even more upset.

"Are you giving up Heero?" He gave the blond a glare. "That would be a no then." He slumped his shoulders. Heero walked back into the kitchen. The others moved back into the lounge.

Duo slumped down again after shouting at Heero. They didn't understand. None of them did. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? Why couldn't he wallow in his pit of depression? He didn't care that he was supposed to be the cheerful one. Why couldn't he be the miserable one for once? He pulled the cushion over and cuddled up with it then curled up into a ball. He felt the tears trickle down again. This had been a particularly cruel twist of fate. He hated it. He decided if he ever met fate he or she would have a personal meeting with the scythe he had acquired. Well, the boys had bought him it for Christmas after he had been so upset about loosing Deathscythe. They had debated if it was one of their better ideas but he had appreciated it. They had understood him then but why couldn't they understand this? His mind wandered.

(Flashback)

Heero indicated for them to move in. They had been tracking these guys for a while. They had become a serious threat. Une wanted her preventers to take care of it. She wanted the best on the job. Everyone knew the best in the business were the Gundam pilots. Heero had accepted immediately. Duo was on board as soon as he knew Heero was. Trowa had nodded calmly as always. Quatre was only part time Preventer; there was no important work on the diplomatic side so accepted the mission. Wufei had stood in silence. He was in, as he had remained present, if he hadn't been interested he would have walked away. Their targets were a small group that were based in a factory. They made weapons and drugs and were selling them on mass. They had to go in and take them out. A few survivors would be ideal so they could get official statements. So here they were, waiting to go in. Trowa went first followed by Wufei and Duo then Heero. Quatre stayed by the door. Trowa and Duo slipped around in the shadows to the back.

"Hands up, you're surrounded." Heero called out. The men stopped what they were doing.

"Shit! Preventers!" All of the men took out guns and aimed in Heero's direction. A few fell as bullets hit them. The rest spread trying to work out where the extra shots had fired from. Trowa watched as some of them hid around crates and a few of the machines. He jumped on top of the crates, dodging the bullets that tried aiming for him. From this vantage point he could see most of the factory. Most of the men had hidden using the crates or equipment as cover. A few had tried heading for the door. Quatre was having to deal with them. Wufei had given up using his gun and was now fighting them in hand-to-hand combat. Heero was taking care of the ones firing around the crates. Trowa noticed a man sneaking around the crates he was standing on. He shot him quickly. He had enough time to look around and see a dark figure sneaking up on Duo. He managed to call out to him before he was grabbed round the neck.

Duo heard the call and spun around and lifted his gun in time to block the downward sweep of the dagger that was aimed for his back. His eyes grew wide when he took in the size of the man before him. The man just grinned and readied his dagger again.

"Hello, hello, aren't you a pretty one." For once the braided one didn't have a smart comment. The blade slashed towards him and he managed to duck away, however he found himself backed up against one of the machines. He looked at what he walked into, then looked back at the approaching figure and gulped. This wasn't looking good. The man gave a low snigger and advanced on Duo. The one advantage Duo seemed to have was that the hefty man appeared to be quite slow. He made another stab at the American who managed to dodge quickly enough then kick out sending the large man back a few steps. It gave him enough time to climb up on the conveyer belt of the machine. He tried to move further but his ankle was grabbed and he fell down face first. It stunned him slightly. He started to stand again but a foot kicked him under the chin and knocked him back. He managed to bite his tongue. He spat out blood but gritted his teeth.

"That hurt." He managed to say before another kick landed in his stomach. He curled up trying to catch his breath. He rolled to the side just as another stab from the dagger was aimed at him. He kicked out, his foot connected with a shin. The large man staggered back and caught against the machinery. Duo felt the belt move slowly beneath him. He looked around to see he was moving. He looked up to find the man was over him before he had a chance. A hard fist connected with his cheek and made him see stars. He felt his head hit the conveyer belt hard. He tried to scramble up. A thick hand was held against his throat and he was shoved back down. Duo struggled to breathe but was more concerned with the sharp object aimed in his direction. His arm reached up as the blow came down. The blade skimmed across the flesh, cutting into his arm. He cried out but managed to draw a leg up as the man was thrown off balance from the force of the failed blow. The American managed to kick him off enough to breathe. He suddenly felt his braid pulled hard. Duo grabbed at his head trying to lessen the pain. The man had grabbed it pulling his head back opening his neck to his blade. Duo saw the dagger coming towards him again. With as much power as he could muster he held the dagger arm up. The man was much stronger than him and his arms were being pushed down, the dagger closing in on his bare neck. He cried out and the man sniggered again.

"Time to die, pretty boy." Duo heard a thud and the man fell forward on top of him.

Trowa had managed to fight off his attacker and saw Duo was in trouble. He had grabbed a knife and thrown it, embedding it in the large man's back. Unfortunately another man tried to attack him while his attention was somewhere else, so was unable to help further. Duo struggled to get the dead weight of the man off of him. His arm had gone numb and his head and stomach hurt. He finally heaved the man off. He paused and suddenly realised he was still moving. He could hear a definite grinding sound too. He tilted his head up to look behind him and noticed for the first time the large industrial rollers that he was heading for. He tried to get up then panicked. His braid was caught in the conveyer belt. He struggled to release it but couldn't. The rollers were getting closer. He did the only thing he could,

"HEERO!" He continued to scrabble at his hair.

Heero heard the call just as he shot the last man. He looked up then ran to the other end of the factory and took in the scene. He leaped forward and tried to help Duo, but his braid was well and truly caught. Duo looked panicked. "Help, Heero! I don't want to be a pancake." Trowa also came to his aid and tried to switch off the conveyer to no avail. Heero looked around for something. He saw the dagger in the dead man's hand. He grabbed it. He looked down at the American,

"Sorry Duo."

"What for?" Now he really did sound worried. His eyes were wide with panic.

"This." Duo heard a sound like ripping fabric but found he could move and rolled off the conveyer. He looked back and watched as his braid went through the rollers. He stared wide-eyed then raised a hand to the back of his head. He paused for a long time completely speechless.

The rest of the Preventer team worked around them, taking away people that hadn't been killed and collecting evidence. Duo remained silent looking at the conveyer blankly and holding the back of his head. The medical crew came in. They checked each of them intently. They stood Duo up, covered him in a blanket and walked him out. Heero told them to treat him for shock as well; they had nodded but didn't look impressed about being told what to do. Heero had been shot at but the bullet had just skimmed his head giving him little more than a scratch. He knew he had been lucky. Trowa had come out with an impressive black eye. Wufei had gained a few scratches. Quatre looked unscathed. The medical crew dealt with their injuries there and then. Quatre looked around,

"Where's Duo, is he ok, I heard him call." Heero looked even more serious than usual.

"He got injured the medical crew are taking care of him. He'll be fine."

(End Flashback)

It was so mean. His stomach grumbled angrily. He had shut himself in his room and Heero was cooking. He loved Heero's cooking. But he couldn't face them, he couldn't. His stomach grumbled again. He frowned debating what to do.

The three in the lounge nearly jumped when they heard the door. They ran to the hall. It didn't look any different; they went through to the kitchen and stood in surprise.

"Oh come on let me have some, quick." Heero turned to face the three in the doorway.

"Mission complete." He stated simply.

"Duo!" Quarter almost squealed happily. He walked over and hugged the American who looked a little shocked at the Arab.

"What made you come out then Maxwell?" Wufei inquired. Trowa looked over to the hob and smiled.

"Heero's cooking, never fails." Heero looked at them all,

"Sit." Everyone sat down at the table. Heero walked past Duo and pulled his cap off.

"Hey give me that!" He went and tried to get it out of Heero's grip. The Japanese man deftly flicked up on top of the cupboards. The others stared at Duo as he tried to get it down. He turned and looked at the three startled faces. "What?"

"Duo, your braid, it's…"

"Yeah I know Q-man." He looked a bit put out. He rubbed his hand at the back of his head.

"Well it's… short." Wufei decided to point out. Duo gave him a glare to equal Heero.

"That's because Heero hacked it off. The hospital decided to 'tidy it up' for me. It's all Heero's fault."

"It kind of looks like Heero's now." Trowa decided to add.

"Maybe he was jealous of mine so decided that mine should look like his." Heero didn't comment.

"But why Duo? You really liked your hair." Quatre said sadly.

"I know, it reminded me of my past, what I lived through, the people I lost. It was my trademark." He said equally sadly.

"We need to forget the past and look to the future." Heero interrupted. "Too many painful memories. It was a health hazard, with the fact that you would have been brought into casualty looking like a sushi filling. Any way it suits you like that. Besides your trademark's your gob Duo." Duo had to laugh at this.

"Alright you win Heero." Heero gave a slight smile. "Can we have dinner now?"

"He's back to normal then." Wufei sighed. Duo just grinned.

**No real hair was harmed in the writing of this fic.**

**Ok so Duo lost his lovely braid. I would be gutted too. I love his braid.**

**Don't flame me for it!**


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